FIA GT3, Adria.

Adria was not as kind to the new Audi R8 LMS as Silverstone had been and the Ingolstadt racer didn’t feature in either of the 2 races, a highest finish of 9th overall being somewhat disappointing.
Porsche’s fortunes had gone the other way since Silverstone with the 911 GT3 Cup S showing ever greater pace. The number 12 car Prospeed car of Niki Lanik and Geoffroy Horion claimed a hard fought 4th overall in the first race of the weekend with the Trackspeed GT3 Cup S of Tim Sugden and David Ashburn claiming 4th in race 2. Lanik and Horion kept up their strong performance and finished 6th in race 2.
Alpina also saw an improved performance from their B6 GT3 with Claudia Hürtgen and Csaba Walter claiming an impressive 5th overall in race 1. Their race 2 result was not quite what the team would have wanted as they struggled home in 12th place.

FIA GT3

The FIA GT3 Championship {link} got underway at Silverstone with 2 races that saw impressive results for all 3 German manufacturers, especially the 2 who were debuting their cars.

Silverstone saw Team Rosberg {link} and Phoenix Racing {link} debut a pair of brand new Audi R8 LMS' each with impressive results. Team Rosberg's Nicolas Armindo and Cesar Campanico had the slightly better races claiming an impressive brace of 3rd positions (and claiming the R8 LMS' first podium finish in GT3) whilst Phoenix Racing's Christopher Haase and Chritsopher Mies claimed 2nd overall in race 2 after finishing an extremely disappointing 26th overall in race 1.

Mühlner Motorsport {link} Porsche's 997 GT3 Cup S narrowly missed out on podium positions with a 5th place finish in race 1 followed up by 6th in race 2, the Tim Bergmeister / Jaromir Jirik GT3 Cup S car did however manage to claim fastest overall race lap in race 2.

Alpina BMW {link} debuted their B6 GT3 car at Silverstone with impressive and encouraging results. Drivers Claudi Hürtgen and Walter Csaba drove the new car to 8th overall in the first race and then 7th overall in the second race. Michael Petit / Jose Manuel Balbiani and team mates Gilles Vannelet / Pierre-Brice Mena didn't have quite as much success in their Team MP Racing Alpina B6 GT3 as the Alpina cars with only Vannelet/Mena reaching the finish of either race (11th in race one.).

Alpina B3.

The BMW M3 is the ultimate performance incarnation of the BMW 3 series but what if you want a slightly less extreme 3 series? The standard 335i isn’t all that impressive and leaves a large performance gap unfilled between it and the M3. That is unless you look at faithful BMW tuner Alpina’s B3. The B3 sits perfectly between the 335i and the M3, offering an ample 360PS (approximately 60 more than the 335i and 60 less than the M3).
Alpina {link} have been tuning 3 Series BMWs for nearly 30 years so the B3 is virtually guaranteed to be a good car. It doesn’t disappoint, the power delivery is smooth and effortless from the 3 litre twin turbo 6 cylinder. Slides can be induced if required but with all the electronic driver aides switched on the B3 remains very easy to drive even in the wet. Handling is crisp and precise, Alpina’s modifications not being overly detrimental to passenger comfort at all.
The Alpina B3 isn’t an outright performance car, despite sprinting to 62mph a tenth quicker than an M3. The subtle yet effective spoilers don’t draw attention, the refined leather interior is more comfortable than hardcore performance and that really sums the B3 up. It is a very quick 3 series BMW (available as saloon, coupe and cabriolet) that has excellent handling characteristics but that is not as, dare one say, power mad as the M3. It is though a far more interesting and enjoyable car than the standard BMW 335i and is a fine example of Alpina’s expert knowledge.